NewsOnF1 - 2 - 6 April News

6-Apr: The Ferrari teams continued testing at Fiorano with both Michael Schumacher and Luca Badoer.
Michael Schumacher driving the F2001 concentrated on tyres and aerodynamics for the upcoming San Marino GP. He complete 104 laps with a best time of 59.071.
Luca Badoer mainly worked on the F1-2000 as he continued to test the traction and launch control systems that will be introduced for the Spanish GP. He completed 32 laps with a best time of 1:00.283 and did 10 practice starts. He also drove the F2001 for 15 laps.
Ferrari continue testing tomorrow with both drivers.

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6-Apr: Bernie Ecclestone has warned that if a rival series is setup (story), the top level of motor racing would be significantly damaged and indicated that two competing series would be bad for everybody and said "It has taken me 30 years to build up Formula One into what it is today and it could take just six months to destroy it."
In an attempt to re-assure the car manufactures, he insisted that Formula 1 will remain on free to air television and said "I have been assured that my policy of securing worldwide extensive live free over the air TV coverage remains unchanged, and that races will only be allocated into countries which will be in the best interests of the teams, manufacturers and sponsors."

Max Mosley, the President of the FIA has also indicated that he would hope that the Kirch group and the car manufacturers would reach a settlement but admits that the car manufacturers have more cards in their hand and said "We hope they get together and come to a sensible arrangement so there is no fragmentation of Formula One. We will do everything we can to encourage everybody to reach a settlement. But, in the end, we have to recognise that if the manufacturers are united, they control the teams and drivers and hold more cards than Kirch."

Michael Schumacher has indicated that he would like to see Formula 1 remain on free to air television but even if a rival series does go ahead, he doesn't think that he'll still be driving when that happens and said "I'm convinced that Formula One should be a patrimony for everyone and that everyone should be able to see. When would it start, in six year's time?, I don't think I'll be on the circuit by then."

5-Apr: On the third and final day of testing at Magny Cours, it was Nick Heidfeld who set the fastest time ahead of Marc Gene and Juan Pablo Montoya. The track conditions were wet in the morning but dried in the afternoon providing almost ideal conditions for the teams to fine tune their traction control systems in preparation for the Spanish GP. The teams also concentrated on setup and aerodynamics for the San Marino GP. Nick Heidfeld also completed the most number of laps with 76 followed by Enrique Bernoldi with 72 and Marc Gene with 62.
Juan Pablo Montoya attempted to run a race simulation but was interrupted by two technical problems.
The Arrows team were also running straight line speed tests at Lurcy Levis.

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Testing also concluded at Jerez where once again Giancarlo Fisichella set the fastest time ahead of Eddie Irvine and Luciano Burti. Fisichella's time was the fastest at the track since 1997.
Fisichella running the B200 was running tyre evaluation tests while Jenson Button in the B201 was again off the pace as the team tries hard to improve this year's car.
Jaguar concentrated on tyre evaluation and aerodynamic testing.

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At Silverstone testing was limited to a few installation laps by Jordan and McLaren due to the heavy rain. BAR decided to pack early due to the bad weather. McLaren decided to stay for an additional day and test on the South circuit.

At Fiorano, Luca Badoer was joined by Michael Schumacher. Michael drove the F2001 and concentrated on setup and aerodynamics in preparation for the San Marino GP while Badoer continued testing the traction control systems.
Michael Schumacher completed a total of 52 laps and a best time of 1:00.179 as his testing was cut short when he clipped a barrier and damaged the left rear suspension. Testing continues at Fiorano tomorrow.

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5-Apr: Following the acquisition of 75% of SLEC (Bernie Ecclestone's holding company) by the Kirch media group and with growing fears that Formula 1 could become available only on pay TV or even pay per view, the car manufacturers have announced their intent to setup a rival series. Paolo Cantarella, the Chairman of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association announced that car manufacturers Fiat, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Renault, BMW AG along with the backing of Toyota and Honda will setup a joint company with the purpose of setting up a new open-wheel single-seater racing series and said "As a result of recent developments and in the best interests of motor sport, it has been unanimously agreed to set up a joint company, the purpose of which will be to establish, as soon as possible, a new open-wheel single-seat racing car series."
Cantarella explained the reasons behind such move and said "It’s quite simple really, the constructors are the protagonists in Formula 1, they provide the raw material for the sporting event and the spectacle. And so they would like to be able to run everything more directly, with greater overall guaranties. We want Formula 1, together with its entire heritage, to continue with order, technological development, clarity of rules and maximum visibility. I don’t want to go into details, but if automobile industries such as Fiat, Mercedes, Ford, Renault, BMW, Toyota and Honda intervene directly, then their action has more sense. It’s going to take a long time, but we are starting to work now for our own Formula 1 series, one that will be increasingly avant-garde on both a sporting and technological level."
Max Mosley, the President of the FIA has indicated that the FIA doesn't see a reason to stop such a series to be created and said "If they do start a series, providing their cars are safe, we would sanction it in the same way as we would sanction any other series. There would be no reason to stop it. I imagine it could be done fairly quickly. But my understanding is that they are not likely to try to achieve anything until after the end of the present Concorde agreement."
The Concorde agreement expires at the end of 2007 and involves all the current Formula 1 teams.

The Orange Arrows team has decided to withdraw their appeal to the FIA against fining Jos Verstappen $15,000 for crashing into Juan Pablo Montoya while leading the race. A statement released by the team read "After much deliberation, the OrangeArrows team has withdrawn its appeal against the $15,000 fine given to Jos Verstappen as a result of an incident during Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

Due to the varied stories in the media, the team would like to clarify the situation. Prior to the collision with Montoya, Jos was travelling at reduced speed and braking a great deal earlier than on his previous lap. This explains why Jos, an experienced driver, was surprised by the incident.

As far as the OrangeArrows team is concerned, the case is now closed. Jos, who is testing in Magny Cours today, went along to the Williams garage after the race to have a chat with Montoya and later commented, “I did apologise to Montoya as none of us want these things to happen and I hope we can both put it behind us now and get on with racing.”

4-Apr: At Magny Cours, the Arrows, Prost, Sauber and Williams teams continued testing. The track was wet all day giving the team the opportunity to test wet and intermediate tyres as well as their traction control systems. Jean Alesi was the fastest man on the track ahead of Kim Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya. Mark Gene testing with last year's Williams chassis fitted with traction control covered the most number of laps with 91 followed by Juan Pablo Montoya with 87.

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At Silverstone, the BAR, Jordan and McLaren teams continued testing under wet conditions in the morning clearing in the afternoon. Jacques Villeneuve set the fastest time on the track since 1997 setting a time below the 1:23 mark. His team-mate Olivier Panis was second fastest ahead of Alexander Wurz. Mika Hakkinen covered the most number of laps with 58 followed by Panis with 47. The Jordan team did not have a good day with Ricardo Zonta spinning in the rain in the morning and suffering an engine problem in the afternoon. Jarno Trulli couldn't test his car until late in the afternoon due to its late arrival from Brazil.

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At Jerez, both Benetton and Jaguar were present. Yesterday only Benetton were present with Mark Webber however the test was cancelled after 2 laps when Mark complained of pain from a damaged rib sustained earlier.
Today all 4 regular drivers from both teams were present. Giancarlo Fisichella was fastest ahead of Luciano Burti and Eddie Irvine. Fisichella's time was very encouraging as his time was just a fraction off the fastest time set this year. This would be encouraging for the team who has been struggling so far.
Jaguar were running aerodynamic tests as well as testing a new version of their Cosworth engine.

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Luca Badoer continued testing solo for Ferrari concentrating on traction control. He covered 79 laps in the F1-2000 with a best time of 1:00.256. He also covered 19 practice starts. He will be joined tomorrow by Michael Schumacher who will be concentrating on set-up work for San Marino.

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Testing continues at all venues tomorrow

4-Apr: The FIA declared the accident between Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher a racing accident but warned both drivers. They did impose a fine on Jos Verstappen for crashing into Juan Pablo Montoya. Ralf Schumacher doesn't believe that fining a driver or team is a solution to prevent accidents. He believes that a driver should be given a suspended ban and said "A fine doesn't matter, you can't just give a penalty because Ferrari will pay it without worrying. In our business the team doesn't care. A race ban is quite a hard thing, because a mistake can happen to all of us. But a suspended race ban for four races or something, I think that would be a good idea."
He continued his attack on Rubens Barrichello and called on him to stop trying to emulate his brother Michael and said "I did a normal braking manoeuvre in Brazil but Rubens should simply step back a bit, not try to manoeuvre like my brother because he can't achieve that. He should just try to do his best and then maybe he will have fewer accidents. We all crash into people sometimes, but when it happens, you hold your hands up and say 'Sorry, I made a mistake.' I don't like the Barrichello approach of blaming me."

Jos Verstappen has admitted feeling guilty about crashing into Juan Pablo Montoya but doesn't feel fairly treated by the fine imposed on him by the FIA as neither Jacques Villeneuve not Rubens Barrichello were fined for what he sees as similar incidents and said "Why did we get a fine and Villeneuve did not in Melbourne and neither did Barrichello today in the same spot. Everyone saw I played fair, I went off my line to give him way. Besides our telemetric data shows that I had a lesser speed and applied my brakes 30 meters earlier that normal. I do not know what happened. I feel guilty about the accident and I have apologised to Montoya after the race."
The Arrows team have appealed to the FIA against the decision to fine Verstappen $15,000.

3-Apr: Most Formula 1 teams started testing at various tracks today. Williams test driver Marc Gene set the fastest time of the day at Magny Cours ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Johnny Herbert. Gene's fastest time was set in the 2000 car fitted with traction control.
Gene also covered the most number of lap with 89 followed by Johnny Herbert with 73 and Gaston Mazzacane.
Testing continues tomorrow as more regular drivers join including Juan Pablo Montoya.

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At Silverstone, the teams were hampered by heavy rain. Ricardo Zonta managed to get a few laps done on the dry track while Alexander Wurz, Patrick Lemarie and Olivier Panis only managed a few laps in the wet.
Patrick Lemarie covered the most number of laps with 36 followed by Ricardo Zonta with 16 and Alexander Wurz with 15.
Testing continues tomorrow.

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Luca Badoer resumed testing at the Fiorano. He drove the F1-2000 fitted with traction control. He covered a total of 81 laps with a best time of 1:01.479.
Badoer will continue testing tomorrow.

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3-Apr: "Why Williams - Are the just unlucky ?" Topic of the week - Have Your Say

3-Apr: The Formula 1 teams head back to Europe and start preparing for the San Marino GP on the 15th of this month. They will also continue testing and fine tuning their traction control systems in preparation for the Spanish GP on the 29th of April. The teams will be testing at different venues with BAR, Jordan and McLaren heading for Silverstone. Arrows, Williams and Sauber testing at Magny Cours. Benetton, Jaguar and Prost testing at Jerez and Ferrari testing at Fiorano.

3-Apr: The Season so far - We look at the first 3 races of the 2001 season ... Full Report

2-Apr: The FIA summoned both Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello following their crash on lap 3 of the Brazilian GP. It was the second incident between the two drivers in as many races. Neither driver accepted the blame for the accident and the FIA did consider it a racing accident, however the stewards expressed concern over the driving standards of both drivers and warned them of their future conduct. Meanwhile former world champion Niki Lauda has called for Barrichello to be suspended for 2 races following the accident with Ralf and said "Such accidents can be bad luck but when such things happen so regularly, he should be told: 'You are suspended for two races. Think it over."

Jos Verstappen who crashed into Juan Pablo Montoya (who was leading the race) was fined $15,000 by the FIA. A statement by the FIA read "Having heard the competitors' representatives and the drivers' explanations, the stewards decided to impose a fine of $15,000 to the driver of car number 14 (Verstappen) for causing a collision."
Mika Hakkinen was also fined $5,000 by the FIA for not replacing the steering wheel in his car when he stalled on the grid. The track marshals had to struggle to fit the steering wheel in its place forcing the safety car to be deployed!